Sometimes change is thrust upon us, even if we didn't want it. And sometimes it forces us to live in ways we wouldn't choose to live. This kind of change, whether it be for better or worse, is beyond our control, and treats us like inanimate objects, buffeted about like dead leaves by the gales of fortune.
Though change is sometimes forced upon us, there is another kind of change. There is change that we choose. We can choose to change many things about our lives. We can even choose change ourselves. Indeed, if , as some suggest, life is a play in a series of acts, are we not free to change character, costume, careers, or anything else, as we run the gamut from the opening to the drawing of the curtain?
Indeed, Franklin's life reads as a virtual case study in how to reinvent oneself. Throughout his long and productive life, he did so time and time again. He was able to do this at least in part because he possessed a wide array of talents, but there was another crucial element in his self-actualization. Courage. He wasn't afraid to try new things. He didn't run from life. He started new businesses when there was certainly no guarantee of success. He began experimenting with electricity when the greatest minds in Europe had failed to understand its fundamental properties. And he signed a document of rebellion against the King of England knowing that if the revolution failed, he would be hanged and remembered not as a statesman and founding father, but a traitor.
So, no matter which way the winds of fortune may blow, don't be afraid to change yourself. Instead, fear the stagnation that comes with a safe and unchanging life, for as Poor Richard once noted, "When you're finished changing, you're finished."
Never stop reinventing yourself. Just one of the many things you can learn by studying the life of Ben.
